


Lily, did you know?

by becauseISaidSo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 07:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8436958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becauseISaidSo/pseuds/becauseISaidSo
Summary: Halloween 1995, none of those affected by this holiday are together...It's the calm before the storm.  The war has started but is not yet being fought.  We all know what is coming, so it's natural to be drawn back to fourteen years previously.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in one day (so sorry if it's shit) and listened to "Mary Did You Know" by Pentatonix on repete the entire time. I suggest listening to it while reading as it will 'help set the tone'.

Halloween 1995

* * *

 

Sirius hadn't asked anyone if it was a good idea.  He just knew it was something he had to do.  He apparated just outside of the town, quickly turning into Padfoot and trotting down the lane.  It had been fourteen years since he’d been here.  The little house was dark.  He stayed still for a long moment, looking at the house. He put his front paws up on the gate, not to go in, but just to feel close to the house, closer to them. A sign rose out of the ground.  Sirius read it, tears welling in his eyes as he saw the messages written there.

_Good luck, Harry_

_We love you, Harry_

_Go Potter!_

The messages were old, it did not look like anyone had visited in a few years, but underneath the graffiti was a message with unmistakable handwriting.

_Harry, you are loved and you are strong_

Remus’s handwriting. Sirius tilted his head up towards the moon and howled.

_Lily, did you know?_

Remus knew where Sirius was, but found it all easier to pretend that he was upstairs with Buckbeak.  When he hadn’t come back after an hour, however, Remus thought he should check on him.

The village was chilly, a stiff breeze whipped his cloak around him.  The village was quiet, it was late, most of the kids were inside.  The streets were littered with candy wrappers.  Remus walked quickly through the square.  He stopped, however at the base of the statue.

There was James and Lily, and little baby Harry, no scar on his head, no worry in his eyes.  Lily’s face was exactly as he’d remembered, her kind eyes, so much like her son’s. _You were there for me at a time when no one else was_.  His heart filled with emotion as he looked at the two of his best friends, and their son who was destined to save them all.

_Lily, did you know?_

The house at Spinner’s End was drafty, drafty and dark since Snape had left.  Peter sat in an old arm chair, looking out the window.  IT had been fourteen years, and he still wasn’t certain he had made the right choice.  His magical hand twitched as it often did when he began to think too much.  He closed his eyes against the silent tears.  Maybe he would never know if he had made the right choice, maybe he was supposed to live with the guilt and shame, and never know what it was to be at peace.

_Lily, did you know?_

The view from the headmaster’s office overlooked the school grounds. The feast was over, the castle was quiet. The new moon shed a soft glow across the sloping lawns. He knew it would be mere months before he had to tell Harry about what lay ahead of him. It would not be an easy road, but he smiled as he remembered the secret club of students, taking matters into their own hands. That had been Harry’s doing. He knew how to lead, and he knew how to fight. _Wars are fought by the young_ , he thought, his mind drifting to Lily and James, _and they are always too young_.

_Lily, did you know?_

He looked up from his cup of tea at the thought that had hit him full in the face.   _Fourteen years ago, the world lost an amazing woman._  He was struck once again by her charm and wit, she had been one of his favorites.  He waddled over to the pictures he kept on a small table and picked hers up.  He sighed deeply.   _Good luck, Harry._  It was the best he could do.

_Lily, did you know?_

She could not help but worry.  He was so young, so fragile.  Today, of all days, it must be so hard.  She knew what it was like for her, Gideon and Fabian had died on the same day almost fifteen and a half years ago, that day was tough, even now.  But today was not for them, but for Lily and James, and mostly for Harry.  Not for the first time, she glanced at her clock, looking for his hand, but of course, it was not there.  Ron’s was steadily on “School” and she smiled. _No mortal peril tonight._

_Lily, did you know?_

He did not want to think.  It had _not_ been fourteen years, it… couldn’t have been.  He banged his books onto his desk and closed his eyes.  They had become friends twenty-seven years ago.  He had lost her favor twenty years ago.  And fourteen years ago… he had lost her forever.   _It’s not worth it_ , he told himself for the dozenth time that day.   _She’s gone, and she won’t come back._  And still, he had to see her eyes every day, staring at him with disdain.

_Lily, did you know?_

He’d gone to bed early, neither Ron or Hermione had tried too hard to get him to talk to them.  He liked to be alone on this day, and they knew that.  He was sitting up in bed, the curtains drawn around him, the photo album Hagrid had given him open in his lap.  In all the pictures his parents were smiling up at him, or laughing with each other, sometimes with Sirius or Remus or Wormtail.  All of the pictures but one.  He stopped flipping to study it.  They were sitting on a couch, presumably in their home.  Lily’s belly was swollen from pregnancy and James’s head was resting on it, caressing the child inside, him, Harry.  James’s eyes were closed and Lily was looking down at him, gently stroking his hair.  They looked peaceful and full of hope.  As he studied the picture, tears began to well in his eyes, but he did not push them aside.  There was a scar on James’s arm, had be gotten that from a Death Eater?  There was a fat orange cat curled up on the arm of the sofa.  He looked at his mother’s face.  There was no fear, or worry, no concern for the future.  She was looking at James with love, a small smile playing her lips as she stroked his hair.   _Did you know?_ He wondered. _Did you know it would end like this?_

_Mother, did you know?_


End file.
